Without Asdrubal Cabrera last night, the Mets offense would not have even given the pitching staff a chance to win the game last night against the Atlanta Braves, which they lost in walk-off in the ninth inning by a score of 7-6.
The 32-year old went 2-for-5 with two home runs (his ninth and tenth on the year) and three RBI.
His first homer came in the top of the third inning off Anibal Sanchez with Brandon Nimmo on first base to put the Mets up 3-0.
His second home run of the night came off Matt Wisler in the fifth inning, with the Mets lead having been cut to 4-2 in the half inning prior. Cabrera extended the lead to 5-2 with a solo shot.
Despite much of this Mets team being inconsistent basically all year, Cabrera has proven to provide that missing trait as he has hit .315/.353/.550 with ten homers and 34 RBI to give him a 2.1 WAR and 148 wRC+.
Right now, the second baseman’s offensive production is simply at an All-Star level and he has certainly been the team’s best offensive producer.
Once again this season, though, Cabrera appears to be playing through injury, as it looks like he is having trouble running and pivoting, as Keith Hernandez said on the SNY broadcast last night.
Whatever the case, his defense has been abysmal at second base with -10 DRS in only 421 innings this season, which at this rate, he could find himself at around -25 for the year.
That would most certainly make him the worst defensive starting second baseman in the league. However, the Mets should not have been expecting a great deal of success from him there, as he had -6 DRS at the keystone in only 274 1/3 inning last year.
Despite his defensive woes, the Mets have seriously relied on Cabrera this season on the offensive side and he has delivered at a top-notch level. As long as he produces on that side of the ball, Cabrera will continue to be plugged in at the top of the batting order as the team’s starting second baseman.
